What makes your pool home?
I like the depth at my regular pool and there's access to starting blocks. It's dark and deep which kinda freaked me out at first but now I miss it when forced to train elsewhere.
I like hearing about pools people get to train in. UT has music underwater and nice big windows and it sounds really cool.
I also chose availability.. however. I'd also like to add that the worst feature is the gagging amounts of chlorine added to the pool. Now I spent virtually my entire childhood in a bathing suit swimming in pools, but for whatever reason I can smell the chloring the next day on my skin, AFTER I've taken a shower..
and it's also starting to bother me during the swim... does anyone else have this problem or perhaps swim in pools that don't use chlorine, but perhaps another agent for disinfection?
If so I'd LOVE to know about it and how well it works so I can pitch it to our Y.....
I chose availability. All the YMCAs in town have at least one lap lane open throughout the day, and at many times have all 6 lanes for lap swim. But maybe I should rethink that. The downtown YMCA has even more hours than the east side YMCA I use. And on the few occasions I go to the downtown one, it is usually less crowded (though neither is really crowded -- we rartely ever have to circle swim), and downtown consistently has cooler water.
I go to the one I go to because it is closest. Pure and simple. It's adequate enough, and the advantages at downtown still don't outweigh the convenience of location.
I vote for cleanliness/water quality. I used to belong to a pool with nice looking facilities but real water quality issues -- my eyes would be red and burning after every workout, and that was with goggles! After my brand-new suit turned from blue and black to lavender and brown in the space of two days (yikes), I decided I'd better find somewhere else to swim. I now belong to a health club affiliated with a local hospital... the pool is nothing out of the ordinary, but the water is wonderful and everything is super clean. :D
